Alvarado's Theory 

Ethnic Minorities 

Exotic-     

 The Holi Festival is an annual event as part of the Hindu religion, in 2015 it was held on the March 6th. It's colours make it seem a really exotic event and portrays their whole religion as exotic, especially to White people and Christians for we don't have these aspects in our religion or country. This image portrays a positive representation for the bright colours connotate a happy and exciting environment; and the smiles on their faces further reiterate this. The mix of skin colours and gender adds to the diversity in a positive light, because of the joyous expressions. 

Dangerous-

'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' has a very negative portrayal of Jews, as it is a film about WWII and Adolf Hitler was spreading the message that ethnic minorities, such as the Jews, were a 'contamination' and should be dealt with. The young boy Shmeul who is Jewish, is sent to a concentration camp where he will meet his death, and as this film follows mainly the White British people we hear their opinions, mostly negative, about the matter. However the main character is a young boy named Bruno who allows us to see a positive representation of Jews, for he befriends Shmuel and the audience is shown the friendship they develop and how despite his religion and background Shmuel is just a child. However Jews were shown, in general, as dangerous human beings who bring terror and misery to the lives of others. In the image Bruno is being shouted at for having  relation with a Jew, highlighting their negative portrayal.

Pitied-

This is the from the wreckage of the floods that hit  and devastated  parts of the Philippines in the December of 2014. The Filipinos were devastated and rendered helpless, and appeals were made to richer countries such as Britain to send aid through money, food and first aid supplies. The flood hit on the 5th December and the news was reported straight away by the BBC who put news articles on their websites with the title 'Philippines Typhoon Hagupit makes landfall as thousands flee' and coverage even before that with warnings of the flood. Clips were shown on news shows such as the BBC and ITV showing images such as the one inserted, which evokes sympathy, causing us to pity them. By showing children it creates more of an impact as we tend to feel more sympathy towards them, because of their vulnerability. 

Humorous - 

Ned Flanders is humorous because of his over exaggerated religion and the events that occur because of it. Flanders is the Christian neighbour to the Simpsons family from the popular TV show on Sky, 'The Simpsons'. His need to share his beliefs becomes comedic because of Homer Simpsons reactions, as he is completely disinterested and doesn't fully understand the concept of Christianity. By adding a humorous character such as Ned, who has a recurring role the audience become familiar with him and expect comedy when he is around. I don't think it is particularly a positive or negative representation, for though he is mocked, it is not exactly commenting on the religion itself. Having said this it is hardly illustrating Christianity in a positive light and as something appealing, for they are only portraying one type of Christian and he is shown as slightly crazed and over the top.

Sexualised -  

In  the media, artist 'Rhianna' is often sexualised, and even sexualises herself. One reason for this could be to make her appear more appealing , or to highlight her womanly assets. If you were to see this in a positive light then she could be seen as expressing her confidence and telling women that it is okay to love your body. In this image she is on a shoot for magazine 'Esquire' in 2012 and this image is very sexualised, the lack of clothing for one but also the water used to add shine to her body makes for a more sexually appealing image. The magazine is in that nature but she made that decision to appear on it and it was one that affects the way she is portrayed in the media. In some ways this is a negative representation as she is a role model and teaching young girls that it is something 'that is done' to perhaps become more famous isn't morally correct. However as I previously said, it shows that she is confident with who she is and that is a positive message to portray. It doesn't have any negative connotations with regards to ethnicity, because white females sexualise themselves also.

Race and Ethnicity

Glee- Unique Adams/ Wade Adams

This is a positive representation of race as they don't draw attention to it and make a big deal of it, instead of questioning her background they except her for her. Other issues are portrayed through her, as she is the first transgender on the show. Unique was born male and named Wade, but since growing in confidence she now prefers to be referred to as a 'she' and she identifies herself as Unique.  She is an American and the colour of her skin is black, which is such a positivity in the media as discrimination was a massive problem especially in the U.S.A. Unique is portrayed as a stereotypical black woman in certain aspects because she is confident and has a very powerful and soulful voice. She is also a larger lady and loves her body which is typical of a black woman but also positive because it is emphasising that we should love our bodies; especially as she is a role woman for millions of teenagers. Unique is a fairly humorous character on the show, however she is also pitied at the beginning when she comes into the show as an unconfident and insecure male who feels trapped in their own body.   

This image shows unique in her element, she is performing with her friends and it is here that she feels most confident and accepted. She is sexualised here as she is in a figure hugging, hot pink dress with feathers, which have connotations of jazz dancing. 

In this scene she is super confident and happy, adding to the positive portrayal.

12 Years A Slave- 

In this film the White Americans are portrayed as the nasty villains, opposed to the Black Americans who are usually portrayed negatively. The owners of the slaves are white and they are the ones who are psychically abusing the Black American Slaves. In one particular scene, despite the slave trying to stand up to the White American slave owner, he goes ahead and rapes on of the pitied female Black Slaves. This is a negative portrayal of White Americans for they are being illustrated as dangerous and villainous, compared to the Black Americans who are pitied. 

The black women are presented as strong for carrying on in those conditions, where as the White American women are conveyed as weak for just following the orders and not questioning the thoughts.